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Grey Eyes
Ancient and terrible are the Grey Eyes. From the earliest days of the Imperium they served the Emperor and his primarchs. It is recalled not from whom they descended but their doctrine is unique and their actions gallant. They are famous as they are mysterious- appearing at times when it is most important for the Imperium. They follow an ancient and sacred scroll of prophecy that legend says was penned by the Emperor. The Grey Eyes are believe to be following a secret plan of the Emperor to help guide the Imperium though some future crucible. Each marine of the Grey Eyes is ancient, some are rumored to still be living since the inception of their chapter. They recruit very rarely and almost all their members fight in Terminator armor. Their service is eternal and they employ many dreadnoughts. Members of the Grey Eyes are blind and disfigured, seeing only by way of cybernetic eye implants and often wearing ceremonial “death masks” to hide their faces. Founding The foundations of the Grey Eyes go all the way back to the Great Crusade with the creation of “The Grey Scrolls”- a collections of prophetic writings often attributed to the Emperor, to one (or more) of his Primarchs, or perhaps some other entity. These writings, cryptic and often unintelligible, were said to have influenced the creation of a chaper. Their first records begin around the time of the 3rd founding (a chapter with a similar description was mentioned during the 2nd founding but was believed to be a separate chapter). Their early descriptions listed them as wearing grey armor and recording their absence in many critical events. The only thing of note about their founding was that it was triple sized for some reason. Detractors To those who know of them, The Grey Scrolls are the subject of much debate. While the Grey Eyes claim them to be by the hand of the Emperor or Primarchs, other claim they are prophecy written either by Tzeentch (or possibly Ahriman or even Cipher) who guides the Grey Eyes to bring about the ultimate doom of the Imperium. Other say they don’t actually exist (and the Grey Eyes are just following their own, possibly malicious, designs) or that a madman wrote them and passed them off as legitimate artifacts. It is said that the neo-numerologists of the Jerionites use a similar text, but this is unconfirmed. There is also some debate over the idea that they could have members who have survived since the inception of the chapter. This is likely more a point of confusion as when a member of the chapter dies, their terminator armor is passed down to a new recruit. That new recruit takes the name and identity of the one he is replacing. He is treated as if he were the old one- a matter of great respect. This seems to create some confusion outside the chapter- while the Grey Eyes have some very old members it is likely only rumor that any have survived since their founding. Chapter History The Grey Eyes were absent during a lot of the important events in Imperial History; apparently by design. While they nominally participate in military activities on behalf of the Imperium, it almost seems they do the absolute minimum required of them- often requests for help fall on deaf ears or some arm-twisting needs to be done. They only seem engaged during several key events and during those they always appeared at the 11th hour when all hope seems lost. These battle are never seem to be the most important ones- they are often minor skirmishes with Chaos on forsaken worlds where the local defenders could not hold out. During their first such battle they encountered a deadly biological weapon born of Nurgle that scarred many of their veterans. They have had 12 of these prophesied interventions based on readings of The Grey Scrolls. In all 12 instances, while the battle was small, the impact down the line of history was seen to be immense. In one instance, as an example, the Grey Eyes saved a world from a Chaos incursion after the Imperial Guard regiment in the sector had all but collapsed. The Grey Eyes drove back the forces of Chaos and later a boy was born on that world who grew up to become a famous Inquisitor who rooted out a plan against the life of one of the High Lords of Terra despite everyone else telling them they were mad. It begs the question- did the Grey Eyes save the Imperium or would someone else have stepped in to have filled the spot of that fateful Inquisitor? Would the plot have even occurred if the Grey Eyes had just let the planet fall? They would tell you that they have undoubtedly saved the Imperium 12 times thanks to the guidance of the Emperor and his scrolls (but detractors say otherwise). Gene-Seed & Appearance Many of the Grey Eyes are blind and ugly. A biological weapon encountered early in their history scarred and disfigured many of their number and they took to wearing ceremonial “death masks” to hide their disfigurement. Their battle brothers (and, later, recruits) wore the death masks themselves so that those who sacrificed themselves would not feel ashamed. It has become a tradition. The Grey Eyes have a malfunctioning occulobe (eye) organ. While it works, it will eventually explode in their eye sockets due to strain so they have them replaced early on with chromatic cybernetic eyes that function in much the same way. This replacement often coincides with a scout’s promotion to full battle brother but sometimes it is required before that (all unwritten, for example, have these chromatic eye implants). Recruitment & Training The Grey Eyes do not recruit from a single world. They recruit according to some unknown tenants, ones often ascertained by way of some form of numerology. They may find that they must look for a “breaker of sticks” and decided that The Grey Scrolls identified a man who stepped on a twig and it broke before a member of the Grey Eyes or a man who destroyed a rural town (colloquially called “the sticks” in ancient times), or an engineer who changed the flow of a river called Styx on a world they happen to be stationed on. Their detractors say that they are simply justifying their actions but each recruit has turned out to be a strong candidate and few, if any, failed inspection. The Grey Eyes are a dying chapter. They recruit so infrequently and in such low numbers that they cannot sustain themselves. Apparently, according to their chapter cult, the large size at the time of their founding was designed to absorb the losses throughout the ages- leaving them with the required 100 marines at the fated “last battle” described in The Grey Scrolls. The chapter is less than a thousand strong at this point so many believe the time of the final battle to be near. New recruits are trained individually as they are often recruited in singles or pairs. They study with the Databdara (chapter master) personally and are assigned as his aid. Eventually they are assigned to a Satraps (equivalent to Captains) for more training when the next recruit arrives. Satraps often have a small cadre of these marines-in-training. They are sent on many solo missions, often acting outside the normal missions of the Grey Eyes and frequently being seconded to the Death Watch where they get their experience. A scout is only promoted when one of the venerated members of the chapter dies. The new battle brother is given the fallen one’s terminator armor (or some memento if it was lost), their name, and their identity (their eyes are also replaced with the cold steel orbs of the chapter if they had not been already). They act as if they WERE the brother they replaced and the others ritually treat him as such. In this way the original members of the chapter are thought to live on through their successors. Organization There are only about 250 Grey Eyes left. They operate in “cadres”- a collection of squads that are centered around a senior member of the chapter. The leader of a cadre is referred to as the “elder” and is both the oldest member of the cadre and wisest in the ways of The Grey Scrolls. Other members of a cadre are expected to serve as aids to them in and out of combat. The youngest member of the cadre, called the Pasti, takes on many duties of a servitor or attendant to the others- as the Grey Eyes employ very few attendants. Many elders are dreadnoughts or veteran marines who have been around since the inception of the chapter. There are 5 Satraps, each a venerable dreadnought. Their cadre are made up of initiates to the chapter. The Satraps hold their title because they comprise the “Grand Cadre” whose elder is the Databdara (and master of the chapter). This Grand Cadre deciphers The Grey Scrolls and interprets them to decide the actions of the chapter. Satraps serve as battlefield commanders, coordinating the actions of many lesser cadre. The youngest captain is referred to as the “Framandar” and most frequently leads the troops into battle. The Grey Eyes field only terminators and dreadnoughts. Only the scouts who accompany the Satraps vary from this. Almost all of the members of the chapter are veterans, some having seen hundreds of years of conflict. That having been said, they can only manage to employ this fashion because their numbers are so low. This was not always so- once they were a mostly Codex-compliant chapter of triple strength. The years have not been kind to them and only the hardest stones have weathered the gales of war. There is a position within the Grey Eyes known as “Unwritten”. An unwritten marine is one that has either graduated from the rank of scout and earned the right to wear the ancient terminator armor of the chapter but there is none available. Alternatively, if a suit of terminator armor is damaged or if a brother marine is damaged (but not the point of needing the life support features of a dreadnaught) a Grey Eyes marines may become an unwritten. Such marines wear a more traditional style of power armor (often an older model) and will often have extensive cybernetics (in the case of injured marines). These marines fill in gaps in immortal cadres and may be fielded in place of scouts in a Satrap’s cadre. In these squads they often wield heavy weapons to make up for their comparative lack of armor. There are 3 kinds of cadre: immortal cadre, companion cadre, and Satrap cadre. The size of a cadre varies from 3 to 7 and there approximately 25 cadre remaining within the chapter (for a little under 250 Grey Eyes remaining). An immortal cadre has: * x4 Terminators* * x1 Terminator Sergeant (the “Elder”) A companion cadre has: * x4 Assault Terminators * x1 Terminator Sergeant (the “Elder”) A Satrap cadre has: * x4 Scouts* * x1 Venerable Dreadnought (Satrap) A companion or immortal cadre may replace their Terminator Sergeant with one of the following: * Dreadnought (Any non-chapter specific variant) * Terminator Chaplain * Terminator Techmarine * Terminator Librarian * Terminator Apothecary The “Grand Cadre” is only deployed during prophesied missions that The Grey Scrolls dictate. It looks like: * x1 Assault Dreadnought (Framandar) * x4 Venerable Dreadnought (Satrap) * x1 Venerable Dreadnought (Databdara) *Scouts and terminators from immortal cadres can be replaced with unwritten. Vehicles In terms of vehicles the Grey Eyes cannot use many standard vehicles due to their almost total adoption of terminator armor and widespread use of dreadnoughts. Because of this most of their few vehicles are Land Raiders. Typically a veteran cadre will has a Land Raider assigned to it. There are also a number of oddly converted Rhinos that have had their back walls removed, referred to a “White Rhinos”, that are essentially fast transport for Dreadnoughts with a Storm Bolter on the front. Notable Campaigns Extermination of Höllenschlund: A large pocket of Rangdan were discovered. They had ravaged an imperial world, conquered the entire system, and were breeding to start another large crusade that would have rivaled that of the xenos forces during the Rangdan Xenocides. A massive number of Imperial forces undertook the campaign of extermination on the Höllenschlund system. Apparently following a prophecy in The Grey Scrolls the Grey Eyes partook in small numbers during the campaign. They were only able to send 50 marines. They provided were primarily comprised of immortal cadre companion cadre; mostly veteran terminators. They were lead by the Grand Cadre, a cadre of the three more veteran Dreadnoughts in the chapter. Their small but elite force was the saving grace in many engagements. The found kindred spirits in the Jerionite Regiments, as they practice Jerichism, a religious belief that venerates the Emperor and texts that are suspiciously similar to The Grey Scrolls. After the campaign 20 Jerionites became battle brothers of the chapter. During this campaign there was an incident that caused friction between them and the Emperor’s Servants chapter where the Grey Eyes delayed sending reinforcements for “prophetic reasons” and the Emperor’s Servants almost lost their entire second company. Grey eyes Terminator.png|A Grey Eyes Terminator Grey eyes Terminator 2.png|A Companion Cadre Assault Terminator Category:Chapters of Unknown Lineage Category:3rd Founding